Industry Mentoring in STEM (IMNIS)

Gain valuable industry, career and networking insights from an expert industry mentor.

What is IMNIS?

The Industry Mentoring Network in STEM (IMNIS) is a prestigious mentoring program connecting motivated PhD students in STEM and health with outstanding industry leaders over one year. Officially launched in 2015, IMNIS successfully paired 324 mentoring partnerships in 2018-19 and has hosted a series of valuable networking events.

With 95% of mentees agreeing that the overall mentoring experience was positive and successful, some of the specific benefits include:

increased networking skills and networks with industry leaders and other students
increased ability to engage and collaborate with industry
enhanced skills and knowledge, particularly in communication, leadership and industry sector knowledge.

Whether you are thinking about a career in industry or want to collaborate with industry to create impact, IMNIS will support you to build the skills, knowledge and networks to achieve your goals.

IMNIS is not a job placement program. IMNIS is an opportunity to increase your understanding of industry, extend your professional skills and expand your network!

The program

Mentees accepted into the program complete a short survey and are then matched by IMNIS with an experienced industry leader who will be their individual mentor for the year.

Best practice indicates that regular meetings are most successful and it is recommended that mentees and mentors meet monthly for an hour - the where, when and how is up to each partnership. Mentoring discussions are driven by the mentees’ goals and while mentors offer guidance and share their experiences, mentees always retain the ability to decide whether to act on that advice.

In addition to the individual mentoring, IMNIS hosts five (5) events/activities to enhance mentee's knowledge about industry career development, leadership and industry-academic collaboration. These events are also a fantastic way to practice networking with other students and industry mentors from across South Australia.

Research areas

IMNIS is a STEM and health related industry mentoring program and so it is particularly relevant to students undertaking research related to:

medical/bio-technology
pharmaceuticals
health sciences
engineering
computer science
mathematics
life sciences
earth sciences
environmental sciences
psychology.

Eligibility

To participate you must be:

enrolled as a PhD student at Flinders University for the whole of the program
have completed their confirmation of candidature
able to commit the necessary time to meet your mentor (1 hour per month for 12 months) and attend the 5 IMNIS events.